"I am a soccer player". All the ID a youth player needs.

During our FIFA Grassroots course, two grade 5 classes came from local schools on the Friday to play in 4 rotating small-sided-games.  There was one child who had some solid skills.  I ask him if he played soccer and he said "yes".  I asked which club and he said "No club, I play at school". I am guessing he meant at recess, lunch, before and after school, gym, etc.

Is he still a soccer player?   He sure is.  He is as much a soccer player as Lionel Messi and Dwayne DeRosario.

Moving forward, what is written here applies to EVERY sport.  I hope you agree.

This weekend I spent my time:

• Delivering my nephew's U11 session.
• Walking the fields (with my dog) watching the U8 boys house league players who come to our Thursday sessions.
• Delivering my son's U18 session.
• Watching my son's U14 friendly.
• Personally delivering a very positive social media comment to our U12 girls team. (thanks @colinscameron)
• Watching a U10 girls session (and stepping in briefly).

At all of kids at all of these stops were soccer players.  Boys, girls, different leagues, ages 
and various skill levels.  ALL SOCCER PLAYERS. 

"When we start to disrespect people as players because of the situation they play in, soccer will be in BIG trouble."

But registered, sanctioned players all have their awesome jerseys and fancy sanctioned ID cards.  How can this boy at our course still consider himself a soccer player?  He doesn't show up to a scheduled field 1-4x/week with purchased equipment and a certified coach.  He hasn't paid the fee.  He doesn't have a matching kit with a number on the back.

What does he do in a school yard ?

• Engages in a game where the winner is determined to be the team that scores the most goals at the end of an agreed upon time period
• Plays to score
• Plays to stop their opponents from scoring
• Tries to experiment and develop ball skills to deceive defenders 1v1
• Combines with teammates to advance to the opponent's goal
• Celebrates goals and hates to be scored on.

He sounds like a soccer player to me.

He may not be participating in competitions with officials, etc, but he is still a player.

With people equating their status as a footballer to the level they play at, we're classifying players in the wrong context.  A travel player might consider a house league player a lesser footballer.  The truth is they are both footballers, although one might be capable of producing more at a higher level of play.  In some cases, their family may not be in a position to offer the higher level of play.

Ontario has become a province of titles the last few years.  SRSL, CSL, OYSL, OSL, Elite, Premier, Academy, House League, Advanced Development, A/B team, etc.  It's necessary to have this player structure to create opportunities for serious and talented players, but players take many shapes and situations.  At some point a player needs to jump into the organized soccer world to move their game ahead, but that doesn't give them a monopoly on the title of "soccer player" or "footballer".

Let me ask you this; when all players are at the appropriate levels, is the level of joy in the game and the excitement of a goal not the same at all levels?  For the U8 boy who scores against the red team on Saturday morning in front of 100 parents and grandparents, his proportional level of excitement after the goal matches that of a player in an Old Firm match.

When I used to watch the Central American immigrants' pickup games at Pearson Park in St Catharines, I always noticed the intensity with which they played.  The excitement of regaining possession of the ball and the speed at which they tried to counter attack.  In a shirts vs skins pickup game.

I can tell you one thing ... I was not going to be the one to walk over there and tell them they were not players.  Nope.

My feeling has always been the same, but re-affirmed for me as of late, formally and informally.  When we start to disrespect people as players because of the situation they play in, soccer will be in BIG trouble.  Canada needs a ground swell of soccer in informal environments to improve the quality of soccer that comes through the formal streams, all the way up the professional ranks.

Skill levels aside,  anybody who plays soccer is a soccer player.  Their is no need to explain with a 'but' or 'I only play ...'.

We don't know everybody's individual story and why they play their sport of choice in the fashion that they do. Organized, competitive, recreational, pick-up, etc.  It's their personal business.  If the interest is there to make a change, there are people and programs to advise them.

As a coach, if a young person tells you they're a soccer player, don't interrogate them about details to see where you can mentally place them, just celebrate the fact that they identified themselves with the phrase "I AM A SOCCER PLAYER".